Madigan adopts transit plan, but downstate public works still in limbo

Monday

Nov 26, 2007 at 12:01 AMNov 26, 2007 at 3:39 AM

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan now supports a mass transit funding plan backed by House Republicans and Gov. Rod Blagojevich – but Madigan’s change of heart still may not be enough to get the transit bail-out put into law.

Doug Finke

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan now supports a mass transit funding plan backed by House Republicans and Gov. Rod Blagojevich – but Madigan’s change of heart still may not be enough to get the transit bail-out put into law.

Downstate Senate Democrats reiterated Monday that they will not support any mass transit plan until the General Assembly also approves a public works construction bill.

“Our position has not changed,” said Sen. John Sullivan, D-Rushville. “In our opinion, these two issues are linked. We stand firm by that. There’s no reason in our minds that these two issues can’t be worked on at the same time.”

Earlier this month, eight Senate Democrats signed a letter to Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, saying they will not vote for a mass transit bill until a capital bill is passed and signed into law. Without their votes, it is highly unlikely the current transit plan will pass the Senate.

A Jones spokeswoman could not be reached for comment Monday.

Madigan announced his change in position in a letter to other lawmakers just two days before the General Assembly is due back in Springfield to discuss mass transit funding.

The Chicago Democrat previously backed a small sales tax increase in the metropolitan Chicago area to fund mass transit. The bill never passed the House, in part because Republicans insisted on a capital plan before they would vote for that proposal.

Madigan said he now supports a plan drafted by House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, that would spend sales tax money from gasoline purchases in the Chicago area on mass transit. The plan would give about $385 million to mass transit systems both in Chicago and the suburbs.

Without an influx of money, the transit systems say they will have to raise fares and cut services.

In his letter, Madigan made it clear that transit funding is separate from a capital bill, saying, “we believe that others should not hold hostage transit riders in northeastern Illinois for the sake of accomplishing unrelated ends…”

Cross spokesman David Dring said Republicans are glad that Madigan has backed off of a tax increase to help mass transit, but want to see details of the bill before promising to support it.

Senate Republicans were less enthused. The money that would be diverted to mass transit under the plan was already built into the state budget, said Patty Schuh, spokeswoman for Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville. No one has come up with a concrete way to replace it, she said.

“Without a funding source, this is not a plan. It’s just a mirage and another political game,” Schuh said.

Lawmakers will return to Springfield Wednesday for a special session called by Blagojevich to address mass transit funding.